When he started to branch out into showbusiness he decided to patent his unusual starry name.

But he faced opposition from the other side of the pond.

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He told The Graham Norton Show last night: "The lawyer in London sent out this letter saying what I wanted to do and a huge amount of people from California said that I couldn’t call myself Hollywood.

"So my lawyer sent back letters saying ‘Paul’s family name goes back 600 years and if you can prove Hollywood has been around before that he will back down otherwise he will sue you for using his name on a sign on the side of a mountain!’ They dropped everything!”